Pnina Ezra and Ofira Nir
Ofira Nir // Survivor of the massacre at moshav Netiv Ha’asara
Pnina Ezra // Educational Coordinator, Jewish Peoplehood Arena, Connecting The Jewish People Unit at The Jewish Agency
The Nir family from Netiv HaAsara have an unwritten procedure: When they hear the “Red Alert” sirens and enter the safe room – they open the door if they hear someone knocking, because it’s reasonable to assume that it’s someone who needs shelter.
But the morning of October 7th, Ofira’s youngest son Nir decided not to answer the knock on the door. This decision saved their lives, and Hamas terrorists continued their journey of slaughter in Moshav Netiv HaAsara. It wasn’t the first time that their lives had been saved that day: Ofira’s son planned on going fishing to Zikim Beach, but he volunteered for agriculture work and stayed home. Afterwards he discovered that three of his friends were murdered.
Ofira has lived on Moshav Netiv HaAsara, where 20 of the residents were murdered, for more than three decades. She is a member of the moshav committee and after October 7 became the community coordinator. She has worked with all the relevant assistance organizations, including The Jewish Agency and the Fund for Victims of Terror. That’s who she met Pnina, who works at The Jewish Agency’s Jewish Peoplehood Arena, who was already recruited to work at the Fund for Victims of Terror from the first day of the war and is responsible for kibbutz and moshav members. She was enlisted to help Ofira and the Netiv HaAsara community with everything that they needed and the two developed a close daily connection.
“Through Ofira we succeeded in reaching all of the residents of the moshav and checking that everyone had received the support of the Fund,” Pnina says. “We spoke every day, and despite the sad circumstances, we formed something special between us.”
Despite the trauma that Ofira has been coping with, she doesn’t give up on the welfare of the moshav’s people. “She’s an incredible person, we see that the members of the community are deep in her heart,” Pnina says. “The work with the members was sometimes difficult and not always financially rewarding, and she did it while she herself was dealing with a difficult trauma – but she doesn’t regret it. I don’t know if there are many people who would have been able to deal with it during this kind of period.”
“The women of the Fund for Victims of Terror are special women who have helped us a lot. Not only financially, but by including us, with empathy, with coping, and with a hug,” Ofira says.
The Jewish Agency for Israel
